The Next Generation
by Zenith-Shadoe
Summary: If you don't like it, don't bother to tell me. Chapter Four is Author's Notes, which should clear things up
1. Default Chapter

Of course, don't own, yak yak yak, Bandai sucks, grouse grouse, rant rant, implied yaoi, none shown, etc.

Gundam Wing Nova: The Next Generation of Gundam Wing

Book One

Part One: Quatre's Night Out

The L1 colony cluster, main colony, Friday March 8th, 5:30 p.m.

Quatre Rebarba Winner looked at himself in the mirror and straightened his collar. He grimaced as he thought about what Duo was forcing him into. "I'm gonna kill him." 

Duo, during a prank calling session, had set him up on a date with Dorothy Catalonia. They had been good friends as he searched for his boyfriend Trowa Barton during his stay at the Sanq Kingdom with Heero... However, when he went back out to space to battle the White Fang, she joined the enemy, culminating in her running him through with a fencing epee. 

Quatre touched the place where she had penetrated gingerly. Even now, in the middle of After Colony 197, it still hurt to think about it. He looked to the bright side, and wondered if this could be an opportunity to make up with her. He began to leave the room.

_Of course, maybe she'll gut me again..._ He raced back and retrieved his twin 9mm pistols and tucked them into their holsters.

" Just in case."

------------

Dorothy looked at herself in the mirror and pulled on her black gloves that went with her black dress. _This dress has seen a lot_, she mused. _From Ms. Relena becoming queen, to her near assassinations not long after. Only fitting that I should wear it to yet another momentous event in my life._ She smiled, thinking of what could happen that night. _Come to me, my dear Quatre Rebarba Winner..._

-----------

Duo Maxwell watched as Quatre's black convertible backed out of the driveway and drove off. "Well, I'll be damned." 

Wufei Chang smiled slightly, leaning against the refrigerator. "What else is new Maxwell?"

Either Duo didn't notice or didn't care, since he went right on talking. "I can't believe that crazy son of a gun is actually gonna do it."

Heero Yuy sipped his coffee silently. "Quatre always finishes what he starts."

"Unlike some people," groaned Wufei Chang, pulling out a half jelly donut from the fridge. "Is this yours Duo?" 

"Hey!" Duo dashed over and snatched the donut. " I was saving that for a special occasion! Now where's the other half?"

Wufei merely rolled his eyes. Heero stood up. "C'mon Duo. We've got a mission." 

Duo raised an eyebrow. "Mission? What mission?" 

"Saving Quatre from Dorothy. I've got a sinking feeling that something is going to happen tonight, and I want to make sure I'm there to see it."

Duo shrugged as Heero stalked out the door, leaving the Solitary Dragon solitary. He looked out the window, only to realize that they had taken his car. "What the?! INJUSTICE!"

------------

Sally Po heard knock on her door. It was late at night, and she had stayed after to finish up some paperwork, so who could be here at this hour? Better safe than sorry... She slid her Preventors .38 Special out of her desk drawer and snuck over beside the door. 

"Come in." The door swung outward and she clocked the first figure that entered with the butt of her gun. The figure fell to the floor, long white-blond hair trailing behind like a cape. The only person she knew with long hair that color was...

"Zechs?!" 

A throaty groan was her only reply. She suddenly felt very guilty as her heart sank into the stomach. She was almost afraid to turn around, but she did anyway. Ahead of her was none other than Lucrezia Noin, standing slack-jawed at her fiancee lying on the ground in a heap.

"Uh, oops?" 

"Oops?" Noin came out of her state of shock and looked at Sally incredulously. "You knock my fiancee out with a Preventors Special and all you've got to say is OOPS?! That's a hell of a greeting!"

"Ok, hi, Noin. How's everything?" Sally tried again, a little annoyance showing through her voice.

Noin rolled her eyes. It was going to be a long night.

------------

Duo picked up his cell phone, very rapidly, since he knew Heero hated the song that played when it rang. "This is the God of Death speaking. Go."

"Hi, Duo. It's been a while," spoke a familiar voice.

"Hey, Ms. Noin! Haven't seen you since the Eve Wars 3 months ago!"

"It's been too long Duo."

"Wait a minute, I thought you were off terraforming Venus or something." 

"Mars, Duo, Mars."

Duo rolled his eyes. "Well, regardless, what are you doing here?"

There was a pause. "Must be a bad connection, Duo. I didn't catch that."

"Don't worry. It's not particularly important. We're going to save Quatre from Dorothy."

"Dorothy Catalonia?"

"The same."

"Good luck." 

"Thanks." He turned the phone off. "We're gonna need it."

------------

Dorothy answered the door, and Quatre smiled politely. "Ready to go Dorothy?" Before she could answer, however, a bullet slammed the door frame, sending splinters flying. Quatre looked to the frame and tackled Dorothy as a spray of 7.62mm slugs whizzed overhead. He whipped out his own pistol and returned fire.

"Dorothy, let's get out of here!" Dorothy was off and running, ducked to avoid any flak. She reached the car and started it up. Quatre zigged and zagged, with plenty of near hits. One bullet caught him in the arm, and he yelled involuntarily. Red blood spattered on the asphalt, and Quatre dove to one side to avoid another volley. He got to the car and hopped over the door. He slammed the accelerator and they shot off.

------------

Duo and Heero arrived a while later. Duo ran to the door and saw the splintered door frame. He looked around inside quickly and called in for Quatre or Dorothy. Receiving no answer, he yelled back to Heero. Heero quickly scanned around, suddenly pulled his gun, and shot right at Duo. Duo didn't have time to react and flinched. Someone grunted loudly and Duo turned around to see a man in head to toe black, with a stylized lion on his shoulder fall to the ground.

"Heero, do you see what I see?"

"I see it." 

"OZ," they noted in unison.

------------

Quatre looked in the rear-view mirror and swore quietly. There was a black van with the OZ lion on the front barreling down on them. He took out his other pistol and looked to Dorothy. "Ever used one of these?"

"I shot you in the hand with one, remember?"

"Forgive my memory for being fuzzy. You did STAB me after all," he snapped

"You're not still bitter, are you?" Dorothy asked, a hint of worry in her voice.

A bullet dropping in through the windshield cut the conversation short. Quatre swerved and straightened out putting himself behind the van. "Blast the tires, Dorothy!"

"Why?!"

"**Blast the tires!"**

Dorothy squeezed and heard three deafening cracks, and three dings, signaling that her accuracy obviously wasn't what it used to be. "Uh, time for Plan B."

"You haven't been practicing have you?" Quatre snipped. He drove up beside the van and took aim at the driver. The side hatches of the van opened up and OZ troops harnessed in to the inside of the van opened fire. Dorothy shot four of them in the first 2 seconds. "Forget what I said about practice," Quatre noted.

Quatre fired at the driver, shattering the window and showering the interior with gore. The truck swerved as the empty skull of the driver hit the dashboard and his hands suddenly went limp. Quatre barely had time to breathe before the van slammed into his convertible. The laws of physics, unbending as they are, snapped into effect as a two ton convertible rammed into a three ton van. Thanks to the slope of the colony, the car flipped over the van, sailed through the air and Quatre and Dorothy unbuckled. Landing on the ground, the two watched in horror as the car sailed further and further. It finally hit the mooncrete. It bounced.

"Did that car just bounce?"

The car stood on end for about a minute, then fell backwards with a thump. There wasn't a dent, ding, or scratch on it.

"What the hell kinda shocks did you put of that thing?!" Dorothy exclaimed in sheer awe.

A bullet narrowly missing again snapped them out of their astonished reverie.

Quatre unloaded his gun into the closest OZ trooper and grabbed the MP8 submachine gun that was dropped. He mowed the troops down with a quick burst of automatic fire, and cranked the hammer, ejecting the now empty magazine.

"Now you got me all worked up," Dorothy said. "Do all your dates go like this?"

"I wouldn't know. This is kinda my first one," Quatre replied sheepishly. Between piloting and working for peace, then piloting again, he hadn't had any time for relationships, save for Dorothy, and that... That was up in the air. He walked over to the dead OZ soldiers and apologized. After grabbing a few clips, he reloaded the MP8 and went back to the car. "Stick this in the glove box." 

"Must be an awfully big glove box..." Dorothy noted. As she opened it, she saw that it was indeed a large glove box. She pushed out mostly small items, such as Tums and Altoids, but ran into a half of a jelly donut and an old issue of Playboy. She looked at Quatre inquisitively.

"Those are Duo's. Blast it, I told him not to use the car! Hold on Dorothy, I need to make a call."

-----------

Zechs picked up the phone. "Preventor HQ. This is Preventor Wind speaking." 

"Zechs? What are you doing back?"

"Just stopped in for a while."

"It's not like you to just stop in for a visit. I thought you were off terraforming Mars."

Again, there was a pause. "I didn't catch that Quatre."

"Never mind. You won't guess what happened."

Zechs sipped his coffee. "I'm listening."

"OZ is back."

Zechs' eyes went wide and he choked on his coffee, then spit it out. After looking up from coughing and sputtering, he saw his dear Lucrezia Noin almost bright red, coffee dripping off her nose and purple hair. "This had better mean the fate of the universe or I'm gonna..."

"OZ is back."

"What?!" She snatched the phone from Zechs' hand. "Quatre? You there?"

"Yeah, what happened Ms. Noin?"

"Zechs can't hold his coffee. Heero and Duo are running cover for you. Make sure they're following you."

"Don't worry, I can protect Dorothy just fine. We'll be at La Extorqueur, that French restaurant. Make sure they know." 

"Wait-!" Quatre hung up. Noin turned to her partner. "Well, I never expected Quatre and Dorothy to get together..."

"Viva la amour," said Zechs, grinning.

"Didn't know you spoke French. Come on." 

-----------

Heero grimaced as he looked around at the van and bodies scattered about. "Hmm... Can't be Quatre. Too much carnage."

"Well, you've seen him when he gets into one of those moods, man. He goes nuts."

Heero's features turned yet harder, remembering that fateful battle with the Mobile Suit he would call his own soon after, the _Wing Gundam ZERO_. "Yeah... You've seen him do that?" 

"No, but I've heard," joked Duo. "Hey, anything's possible tonight though," he noted somberly. 

-----------

At about the same time, Quatre and Dorothy pulled into the restaurant

"Well, geez, Mister Winner, you sure know how to treat a girl right!" Dorothy said in her best Southern Belle voice. Quatre couldn't help but smile at this.

"Well, I try, m'dear," he said grinning. _Oh crap, I just called her dear..._

Dorothy laughed, thinking, _He called me dear! Oh wonderful! My dear Quatre, we'll be together soon!_

They entered and the maitre'd showed them to their seats. It was a cozy little place with candles, a strolling minstrel and a velvet tablecloth, the works, if of course it hadn't been the completely wrong atmosphere for what Quatre had to say.

Quatre flinched as he heard a few wrong notes and scribbled something on a napkin with his pen. He slid it under the table to Dorothy. She giggled as the waiter came and they ordered drinks.

After getting their drinks, Quatre took a deep breath and prepared to drop the bomb on Dorothy. "Dorothy... you're really nice and pretty and all that good stuff but I'm-" A bullet slicing off two bangs interrupted him and he sat bolt upright as the candles blew out. _About to be shot..._

-----------

The sniper swore as he reloaded from the next building over, but sensed someone behind him. A man in a green tanktop and black shorts leapt onto the roof. He fired once but took a bullet in the chest for his trouble. 

-----------

Duo walked into the restaurant and quickly scanned around for Heero. The maitre'd looked at his peculiar attire and Duo flashed his Preventors badge. The maitre'd nodded and was about to show him in when a black suited man fell from the roof. When he landed, his head shattered like a ripe melon. Duo gulped and looked at the maitre'd with sorry eyes. "Sorry about the mess, saright?"

"S'okay." 

"Is Quatre Reba-Rebara-Quatre Winner here?" The maitre'd pointed to their direction. "Thanks pal," Duo said, walking off.

Heero entered, flecks of viscera and other gross particles scattered randomly about his person. 

"He's with me!" Duo called from the other side of the restaurant. The poor bedraggled maitre'd cocked a thumb towards the area Duo presently occupied. Heero kept on walking, not noticing the stares he got because of his ribald apparel. 

"Not making too many friends today huh, Mista Winna!" Quatre heard a familiar voice say. 

"Duo!" Quatre greeted. Dorothy greeted Duo with a fake grin. 

"Listen, I'd love to chat with you and the cockroach in the black dress, but this is a business call."

As Duo related the events at lightning fast speed, one thought raced through Quatre's mind. _Did he just call Dorothy a cockroach?_

"So in short, OZ is back and wants to kill us five and anyone else close to us."

"You know you could've just said that," Dorothy noted, if not merely to spite Duo.

"Ah, shut yer trap," Duo scoffed. "Well, just watch your back tonight."

"Will do, Duo."

"Well, gotta be going, see ya 'round, buddy-boy," finished Duo, who turned and walked over to Heero. One look at Duo betrayed exactly what he was thinking, namely about Quatre and Dorothy. 

"Get your mind out of the gutter Duo," Heero stated flatly, then added, "Let's leave them be." 

A small black object streaked past Heero's head and he spun, following the object's course. Time seemed to slow for Heero as he grabbed a plate and flung it at the object. It hit its mark and the object ricocheted into the ceiling, where it promptly exploded. 

_OZ is getting desperate. They're using rocket launchers in a civilian area,_ Heero thought grimly. "Quatre! Get out of here!" The yell was rather unnecessary as Quatre and Dorothy were halfway to the exit already. 

However, such a quick exit was not in store for our heroes, as several OZ special forces troops crashed in through the windows. Three hit the ground, dead courtesy of Heero and Duo, but the other four landed unscathed. They leveled their machine guns and opened fire. Dorothy had made it out but Quatre ran afoul of the troops. Seriously outgunned, he found only one choice open to him. He withdrew his pistols and strafed right as smoke, glass, hot lead, and shredded tablecloths flew through the air. He fired blindly as he finally reached the door and dove through it, slamming head first into the car door. 

"Quatre!" Dorothy shouted as she realized what the thump was. She dragged him into the car and peeled out.

Heero and Duo stood up from behind the table they had tipped. The restaurant was a wreck. A shred of tablecloth landed on Duo's nose. He wiggled his nose and sniffed to get it off. 

"Let's get out of here, Duo," Heero's monotone voice broke the silence. Duo continued to sniff and shake his head as they left. The maitre'd looked around in horror at the decimated interior. He saw a note on the floor. There scrawled on the paper were the words "Send us the bill. Preventors." 

-----------

"Ow..."

"Are you all right Quatre?" 

"I'll be fine... after about a week of rest..." Quatre replied numbly. He patted his skull gingerly. "I hope this isn't ruining the mood..."

"I'm having a wonderful time, Quatre!" Quatre stared slack jawed at the girl driving. "No seriously! I love this action! It's invigorating!" Dorothy threw her hands into the air as she said the last sentence, and Quatre pounced on the steering wheel.

"ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME?!"

Dorothy looked at the teenage millionaire now sprawled across her lap. "Well if you wanted to drive so badly you could've asked." He turned into a parking lot and stepped her foot on the brake. 

"Ok... let's talk this out..." he gasped exasperated. He rolled over and noticed immediately his precarious position. He opened the door and slid out, then stood up and leaned over. "Dorothy... You're crazy."

"Oh but that's why you love me, isn't it?" she smiled. Quatre gulped. _Love? Hold on a sec..._ He didn't remember saying anything about love, but she was _beautiful... and charming and... Whoa, whoa, whoa... there's that whole sexuality thing here. I thought... but she... and him... and..._

"I think I need to sit down..." he moaned. "My head hurts..." He went around, slumped into the seat and put his hand over his eyes. 

"Is it that bump you took?"

"Uh...yeah." 

Dorothy stretched out and threw her arms over Quatre's shoulders. "Want me to kiss it and make it better?" she whispered in his ear.

_Oh my God, she's coming on to me!_

_Boy if this doesn't get him, nothing will._

Mercifully, the phone rang. Quatre grabbed the phone, maybe a little too quickly. "Yeah?!" 

"Quatre," a rough voice instructed, "meet Noin and I at the Ace's Hole."

"Sure thing, Zechs," Quatre agreed. "Wait, is that a..."

"It's a dance club," Dorothy noted in a sing-song voice. "It's also right over there."

"Thanks, Dorothy. We'll be there, Zechs." He saw Zechs look out the window to the parking lot across from them. "Small colony, huh?" 

Zechs laughed slightly. "Wind, over and out." 

_What a night..._ "Well this isn't going quite according to plan..."

"Are you kidding?! I LOVE THIS!" 

_Well, this just took a turn for the weird..._ "You're nuts..."

"I think we already got into this," Dorothy reminded him.

"Oh yeah," Quatre noted. "Let's go." _This is going to Hell in a hand-basket that's for sure...Did I just think that? I must be hanging around Duo too much..._

But the entire time, something in the back of his head kept telling him "Go for it! GO FOR IT!" As the night wore on, the telling became more of a direct order, and even more like a fat man in an overcoat bellowing at him. They pulled in to the club.

The atmosphere smelled of pot, booze and manufactured fog and the strobe lights set Quatre's pupils to dilating like a camera lens. He wasn't feeling comfortable, to say the least. _This is worse than the time Duo dragged me to one of his "specialty stores."_

"Quatre! Dorothy! Over here!" a female voice called to them. They turned to see one Lucrezia Noin waving them over to the table where Heero, Duo, and Zechs were also situated. 

"Why Commander Milliardo, how pleasant to see you again," Dorothy mused.

"Can it Dorothy," the former White Fang leader warned. 

Ignoring the two former comrades in arms, Noin began to fill Quatre in on the background she had. "Sally informed me that former OZ and White Fang troops are gathering in great numbers. We've seen first hand what they're capable of, with apparently no leadership. We have to be extra careful from now on."

"Tell us something we didn't know," Duo sniffed. 

"Do all your friends follow you like this?" Dorothy asked

Quatre shrugged and said, "These guys are nothing, you should see the Maganac Corps."

"Why don't you guys go dance?" Noin suggested. Quatre's heart dropped into his stomach for maybe the fifth time. _WHAT DID I DO TO DESERVE THIS?!_

"Come on Quatre!" Dorothy said, grabbing his arm and yanking him onto the dance floor. The music had turned slow and the vents had sucked out most of the pot. It was perfect for romance, but, as many other things had been that night, completely wrong. 

"Well to say the least, they're a cute couple," Noin smirked, trying to back a giggle.

"Only one problem," Heero corrected. "Quatre's gay." It was about this time that three jaws dropped. 

"Wait a minute, how'd YOU find out?!" Duo half-screamed, half-interrogated. His face dropped again as he wondered. 

__

Brainless pervert, Heero thought. "I asked him once. I had some suspicions and I asked him."

"Well, we might be witnessing history in the making, Heero-pal."

"Dorothy... I've got something that I have to say before we go any further..."

Dorothy's mind raced. What could he possibly have to say that would hold this up?

On the other side of the room, one of the club hoppers opened his briefcase and unloaded the contents. After some quick movements, he leveled the reassembled 7.62mm rifle at Dorothy.

"I..." _A rifle?_ he thought, cutting himself off. He looked up again to confirm. _No! They're going to go through Dorothy to get to me!_ He spun Dorothy, faking a twirl. A shot rang out, and Quatre stiffened in Dorothy's arms. She felt a warm liquid on her hands as Quatre collapsed on her. She knelt to the ground with him and saw the red blotch forming on the back of his vest. 

"Oh...no... Ms. Noin! He's been shot!" Everything froze before the music started up again now to a point where the rhythm was the only thing audible. Duo smirked, "Perfect music for a fight." Heero dashed past him and kicked the undercover sniper in the back, sending him flying into the wall. 

"Come on Duo, this is no time to joke."

"How could I forget?" Duo went out the door and stopped short. "Uh...Preventors. Freeze?" The three _Virgos_ face sensors flashed and they turned to him. "Why me?"

Three feet came flying through the Mobile Dolls and collided with Duo's face and chest. He flew backward into the club and skidded into the turntables. 

"That was easy," said one of the ninjas as he followed up to finish the job. "But what about his support?"

"You mean me?" The Ninja turned around to see a fist connect with his head followed by a foot spinning around and turning his vision black. "You all right, Duo?" 

"Five more minutes..." Duo moaned. "What about those _Virgos_ outside?!" 

Heero searched the unconscious Ninja and found a small remote, no bigger than the one Trowa had slipped Wufei and Duo while they were locked up in the moon. He hit the button, creating a _Virgo_ in thin air. Heero shot Duo a look.

"I thought it was real..."

Heero shook his head and ran towards the door. Kicking it open, he rolled out of the way as two ninjas kicked at him. The feet missed Heero but collided with Duo, who again hit the floor. 

"Alright, I've had enough of this hand to hand bullshit..." he muttered, drawing his gun and shooting the two ninjas. Heero dodged a punch and returned the favor with a left. He shook his head at the braided boy as he caught a kick, but paid for it as the other leg of the Ninja struck the back of his head. 

Zechs had joined the fray after making sure the paramedics were on the way, and just missed a hammer blow, receiving a kick to the head for it. He stumbled back and leaned on a crate. The Ninja came charging in and Zechs thrust his foot out, hitting him squarely in the jaw. There was a satisfying snap of bone and ligament, and Zechs regained balance, drew, and fired in one fluid motion. "Still got it."

"Quatre, say something! Come on!"

"Ooooowwww..." Quatre groaned. Dorothy launched herself on top of him. 

"You're alive! Oh, Quatre! Why'd you do something like that?" she said, letting up.

"I just knew I had to protect you.." 

"Oh Quatre! You really do love me!" she launched on him again.

_Oh the hell with it, why am I fooling myself?_ "Of course, Dorothy." 

"Hey lovebirds! The sniper is ready to talk," called Duo. Quatre stood up rather painfully, and removed his vest. The bullet clattered to the ground as Quatre rubbed his back. 

"That rifle shot just managed to pierce the vest... Ow..." He commented. 

"You're a lucky man, Quatre...why'd you have a bulletproof vest on anyway?" Dorothy asked.

"To be honest, I was afraid you would stab me again."

"Gee thanks."

Quatre walked over to the sniper. "Alright, why are you trying to kill us?"

"I'm not telling you anything. I--AGH!" There was a sickening crunch as Heero snapped the man's arm in two. 

"Talk or I'll break more," he snarled.

"Ok, ok! OZ has been rebuilding for a while now, so we can get back on top. H-he told me to kill that one!" he stammered pointing at Quatre.

"Who's he?" Quatre returned.

"I don't know, he's just a shadow on a viewscreen! I--Uh!" the man collapsed as Heero elbowed him in the base of the skull.

"He won't be telling us anything more."

Noin piped up. "Why don't you two get lost and enjoy yourselves? We'll clean up here." Quatre and Dorothy looked to each other and dashed out the door. "I hope he's got a good excuse for poor Trowa." 

"You think you know a guy..." Duo groaned. He looked out to interior of the room, blood glass, debris, bodies strewn about. "What a mess."

After gripping the steering wheel as tightly as possible, Quatre's hands were nearly bleeding. Dorothy had been sitting on her hands, in a valiant attempt to keep them off Quatre while he was driving, and vise versa. They dashed out of the car and Dorothy pounced on him the minute they got inside, kissing him wildly in a whirlwind of pent-up emotions. He returned the favor but then stopped her. 

"How far is this going to go, Dorothy?"She got a look in her eye that told clearly, how far it was going to go. He smiled back. "That's what I thought."

End Part 1


	2. Gundam, Interrupted

Part Two: Gundam, Interrupted

The L1 colony cluster, main colony, Preventors station. Monday March 11th, 6:45 a.m.

Noin sat at her desk in disgust. There was just too much paperwork. It was good to be in outer space, but this was not what she had imagined in a trip up.

A knock at the door caused Noin to crane her long, graceful neck around the ungainly stack of papers that sat precariously perched on her desk. "What?" she snapped.

"Well, that's a fine good morning," said Zechs, scoffing.

"You. Take. Fill out. Get lost," Noin replied, reaching her last nerve. She pushed half of the pile onto Zechs' waiting arms. 

"Can't we get machines to do this?"

"Last time they tried that, we got mobile dolls."

"Can you at least scratch my nose? I'm a bit tied up." Noin leaned over and raked a fingernail down his nose. He winced. "Gee thanks." he staggered away.

"Zechs!"

"What now, more paper?"

"No," she paused. "Do you really think this plan is going to work? I mean, we've known those pilots and Relena's your sister and all and--"

"Don't worry about it. He knows what he doing," Zechs left, closing the door with his foot. Noin heard a yell and a thud, followed by some screaming and harsh tones. _Sounds like the God of Death has crossed Preventor Wind once again_.

The doors buckled and there was a groan. Moments later Duo stumbled into the room, holding his stomach with one hand while pushing the door open with the other. 

He managed to muster up a weak grin. "Was it something I said?"

"I'm surprised you're actually here this early, Agent Maxwell," Noin mused. She vented her frustrations on him, the easy target. "Usually you're up late partying instead of sleeping. It's a godsend to see you here before 10:00."

Duo groaned before glaring, returning the comment with one of his own, "Gimme a break! First I gotta get up for some meeting at the most ungodly hour, get kicked in the stomach by Zechs, or Milliardo or whatever the hell his name is, and then you literally add insult to injury!"

"Aww, is widdle Duo having a bad day?" 

The God of Death's face contorted into some mockery of irritation as he tried not to laugh of Noin's baby voice. "Meeting...where...?"

"Third door on the left."

"Thanks," he said as he dashed out. Boisterous laugher echoed through the hallway as he slammed the door. 

Noin marked off Duo's name on her list, nearly complete except for Trowa. _Now where could he be all by his lonesome?_ she wondered. The phone rang and Noin answered it. 

Never one to be counted out, it was Trowa on the other end. "Ms. Noin?"

"Trowa! Where are you?" She heard a grunt and the dull thud of a body hitting the ground. "Trowa?!"

"I'm fine. I met some people that might interest you. Send a car down to 3rd and Main." 

"What happened to yours?"

"Currently..." Trowa turned to the smoldering wreck that had been his blue sedan. "In desperate need of repair."

"I'll take your word it, Fire out," Noin ended.

Soon, Quatre pulled up to the site, as indicated by the pillar of smoke visible in the rising sun. The myriad of colors bathed the city in a rainbow, and the sky as an artist's canvas. Trowa, however, merely stood darkly on the corner, an aura of negative emotion emanating out and enshrouding the area in darkness.

"Trowa!" Quatre called. Looking up, the young man's face and mood did not change, what light could touch him looking dreadfully out of place. Slowly he made his way over to the car and lugged the suspect, dressed in a now rumpled shirt and sport jacket, into the back, then went to the passenger's side and fell in.

"Let's go," he noted quietly. Quatre eased the car around and left for Preventors HQ. He looked over to Trowa a few times, but his friend, Quatre hoped, at least, remained silent, not talking his eyes off the road for a minute. Not that Quatre could see, but a single tear rolled down Trowa's right cheek out of his heart's emptiness. 

They pulled in without a word and dragged the suspect up to the meeting room. The other Gundam Pilots and Vice Foreign Minister Dorlain, along with her aides Hilde and Dorothy, were all waiting for them. 

"Good to see that we're all here," Hilde smiled as the others filed in, but Trowa's expressionless face made her put it away in an instant. Lady Une, now in her old OZ uniform, gestured to Trowa to sit. Trowa deftly ignored her and shoved the suspect into the room. 

"Our friend has a lot to tell us," he said, flatly as usual.

"I'm not saying anything until--" the man heard Trowa's knuckles pop and his lips pursed.

"Talk, now," Trowa hissed.

Trowa was oblivious to the others, now slightly frightened by Trowa's frigid tone, and Quatre moved toward him slowly, attempting to keep the former pilot of the _HeavyArms_ from exploding on the OZ flunky. 

"Ok ok, OZ is going to start producing MS again, so they can start...I don't know what, but they told us to kill you Preventors at any cost!" 

"Who is behind this?" Trowa snarled, trying to keep his voice even. 

"I don't know! He's a--"  
"Shadow on a viewscreen," Heero finished. "Same as last night."

"That didn't work either, huh?" the man groaned.

"You're not telling us something, I want to know what," Trowa hissed, roughly grabbing the man by his lapels. 

"Whoa, dude, calm down!" Duo yelled. "Leave the poor guy alone!"

Trowa remained undiscerning and continued to shake the man down, then punched him in the stomach. "Talk, damn you!" he yelled as he threw the man across the table. 

"I don't--" the man was cut off with a punch. 

"LIAR!" Trowa yelled and reared back to hit him again. A hand grabbed Trowa's wrist and he spun around to face him.

"Care to try that on me?" Lady Une snarled.

"Don't tempt me," the ex-OZ officer scowled. 

"Trowa, that's enough!" Quatre yelled. "If you should hit anyone, it should be me." He lowered his head and waited for Trowa to strike him. Trowa's scowl relented for a second, but returned and he pulled his hand away. He stood and left the room, without a word to anyone. The door slammed behind him and the room remained silent.

Dorothy and Quatre looked to each other, worriedly, knowing that they wore the blame for Trowa's uncommonly violent outburst. Lady Une broke the silence as she sat down.

"This is not our concern at the moment" she said, crossing her legs. She spun her chair around to face the group. "We've received coordinates from an anonymous tipster of the location of the main base," the lights dimmed and a holographic map of the Earth Sphere appeared. Lady Une stood again and pointed at the map with a laser pointer. "You are to travel from this colony, to this point. There as Preventors station with reload and refuel your ship and you'll continue to this asteroid, near the L3 colony cluster." 

Zechs sighed, allowing a slight sound of contemplation to escape. "We can reduce our time by at least 40 hours if we go directly there," he noted, doing the calculations in his head. 

"In what, my dear Preventor Wind?" Une asked, a slight scoff in her voice. "The only thing that could go directly there would be a Mobile Suit, equipped with a megavernier booster, which, if you'll recall, we don't have. Which is why we're trying to keep anyone else from getting them!"

"On the contrary, Ms. Une, I've got the perfect suit for the job parked right outside the colony."

"So that's the suit that's double parked outside the hanger!" Duo joked. 

Zechs paid him no mind, continuing, "The _Tallgeese Mark III_ can be prepped for transport duties in under 6 hours, 4 if I work fast." 

"Well, it'll go a lot faster if you get us working on it," Wufei told him. "In which case, I'd suggest we get moving."

"I'll get on it and report this to the ESUN Delegation," Relena nodded. Being the Vice Foreign Minister, she worked closely with the Preventors to keep the peace, as while the Delegation of the Earth Sphere United Nation kept the homefront safe. Being an autonomous body outside of the government, Ms. Relena was assigned to watch the Preventors, as they still did not trust the recently commissioned Gundam Pilots to make sound judgments on political hot spots. She had offered Hilde and Dorothy spots as her aides, because of Hilde's close ties to Duo and Dorothy's instrumental part in the Mariemaia Revolt earlier in the year. The fact that they were all close friends had nothing to do with it, she had said. Yes, even Relena could be sneaky. 

"Very well then," Lady Une finished. "Dismissed." 

"Roger. I will wipe out OZ," said Heero, his flat tone sending chills down Lady Une's spine.

After the others had left, Noin and Zechs looked to Une. "I know what you're thinking," she said, tapping her hand on her glasses. "I'm sure that this will work."

"Hm, I wish I had your confidence," Zechs said. 

"It will work, my friend," said a voice from behind them. The wall had opened up, and a figure stood in its place, cloaked in shadows. The voice was all too familiar to the three. "I have foreseen it, and there is nothing that shall stop me from achieving this goal. I'm leaving it up to you to make sure that you stay alive throughout all this. I'd keep an eye on that 03 pilot if I were you though. He seems to have a bit of a temper."

"I think that's a job best kept to the pilots," Noin noted. 

"Ow..." said the suspect, now awake from the merciless beating given to him by Trowa Barton. "That son of a bitch..." 

"Calm down, Casval. It's nothing more than a flesh wound, if that." 

"I'll give you a flesh wound..." Casval murmured, removing his tattered suit, revealing a red outfit under it. He rummaged through the pockets of his and found a pair of white gloves, then opened the inside of his suit jacket up and removed a cloak. It was split in the middle of the front, with a great golden bird-design on the front and two shoulder pauldrons with tassels. 

"Is this...kid the operative you told us about?" Noin asked.

Casval buckled a white belt and shot a dirty look at Noin. "Who's a kid? I've got more experience than the three of you."

"Casval, can it," the shadowed figure said, tossing a helmet to Casval. The front had a bottom heavy diamond with two horns coming from the middle, while the back flared out and came around. "My helmet! You remembered!"

"Well it was in the books. Look inside, there's a mask too."

"Thanks," Casval said, as the figure stepped out of the shadows, "Mr. Trieze." 

The former sovereign of the Earth Sphere merely smiled.

"I don't know about this, Heero, old buddy."

"Doesn't feel right to you either, huh, Duo?" Heero looked to Duo as they walked to the hanger to help Zechs. 

"Well, what are we going to do about it now?" Quatre reminded them. "We've just gotta make sure that this mission doesn't go straight to hell."

Wufei Chang followed behind him, an irritated Trowa Barton behind him. "Regardless, we have to keep them from their plots. After all, it's because of us that there's peace at all!" 

"I've just got a feeling that we're biting off more than we can chew..." 

Later, the _Tallgeese Mk. III_ was ready to transport them all. It was a tight squeeze for the six of them, all piled in there. Very tight.

"Maxwell! Your braid is in my eye!" 

"Then get your elbow out of my spine!"

"I can't until Winner gets his head out of my shoulder!"

"Trowa is using me for a foot rest..."

"Trowa, get off me," Heero ordered.

"Sod off."

"SHUT UP! I'M TRYING TO PILOT HERE! Zechs yelled

Zero gravity didn't help the situation.

"Maxwell! BRAID IN MOUTH! SPLIT ENDS!"

"I got something else for you to suck on!"

"Don't look at me, that's Barton's area!" A thud was heard and Wufei's forehead hit Duo in the shoulder. "Injustice!"

"DAMMIT, DON'T MAKE ME TURN THIS SUIT AROUND!"

It was to be a long trip. 

Upon arriving at the asteroid base, the five could breathe easier, now that breathing was indeed possible.

Heero looked around, eyes scanning for enemies out in the airlock. Seeing that there were none, he continued through. 

****

"I'll just have to defeat this leader too," Wufei

noted to no one in particular.

"Please, Mr. Chang, he flew into your freakin'

trident," Duo remarked. 

"Bite me, Maxwell." 

"I'm starting to rub off on you."

"Just go." They entered the base.

Meanwhile on the other side of the base, a man in a black cloak slipped in towards the mobile suit hanger. He grinned as his drew his prized Colt .45 pistols and took aim from the rafters. Suddenly another figure in black and white dropped from farther away, his face covered by a mask split down the middle into black and white, matching the motif of his costume. Alternating patches of black and white covered him in a uniform pattern and he withdrew a longsword from his back. The OZ soldier never knew what hit him and the man in black and white continued on. 

"Is that the...Jestre?" the cloaked man hissed. _Wow, they got all sorts on this mission... Even heard those Gundam pilots were here._

The Jestre suddenly spun and what appeared to be sparks flew from his hand. The cloaked man jerked back as three shurikens paid a visit to his right arm. He looked at his single right glove and pulled the shurikens out. "Jerk." He removed the glove and looked over the uncovered mess circuitry and metal rods that comprised his right hand. "Ok...looks fine, works..." He thanked his lucky stars, which happened to be just to the left now, that his girlfriend/mechanic was such a techno-genius, or else he'd be known as Stumpy instead of the Rev Raptor. _Hm, the Rev Raptor...like to hurt the guy that came up with that one...looks like Jestre is gone, so we're good to continue._

He leaped down and looked around. He felt a tap on his shoulder and he spun around. There was the emotionless mask of the Jestre. "Stay out of my way," came the rasping order.

"No one gives orders to Rico Khushrenada!" the Rev Raptor stated defiantly. 

Jestre seemed to grin under his mask. "Well, then, Mr. Khushrenada, let's see how much like Treize you are!" 

"Hey, I'm not--" Rico attempted to say before Jestre tried to run him through. Rico wheeled to the side and connected with a backhand to Jestre's head. "Don't ever compare me to that loser! I have nothing to do with him, so let him rot in his grave."

__

Hmm...Jestre thought, _This one is forceful. I may be forced to kill him for my poor judgment._ "Just keep your...spiky haired head out of my business." 

"Leave my hair out of this," Rico said, now annoyed. His hair had a mind of it own, as far as Rico could tell, it spiked forward about as far as that Heavyarms pilot's did and had an odd little 'command spike' at about the top of his head. "Just assassinate whoever you're after and let me get my job done."

"What job is that?"

"I'm shopping for Late-Model Gundams."

"I see that our objectives aren't so different, my cloaked friend," Jestre said. Friend was merely a pleasantry, Jestre could already feel that he didn't like this green eyed kid.

"Just go, will ya? I've got enough problems without having a nut like you following me," Rico grinned. He'd heard of the violent deaths that Jestre had caused in the past, and was confident that he'd be fine if Jestre tried anything.

"You're quite the egomaniac," said Jestre, before dropping out of view. Rico suddenly saw the ceiling appear in his line of sight and felt the ground meet his spine. 

"Ow." When he got up, Jestre was gone. "Well, next time I'll get him. Right now I've got a mission to complete." He walked off.

At the same time, the Gundam Pilots had reached a three pronged path. 

"Lovely," commented Zechs. "Ok, Heero and I will go down the center, Duo and Wufei will go down the right, and Trowa and Quatre will go left."

Quatre looked to Trowa, who remained stoic. The teams went off and as soon as the others were gone, Trowa looked to Quatre and said only one word: 

"Why?"

"Trowa... I feel really bad about it but...it just feels right to me."

"Just feels right. Great, what about me?!" Trowa said, raising his voice above his usual deadness. 

"Oh, Trowa..." Quatre said, trying to keep his voice even. He looked to Trowa's hurt face.

"Well, I guess we live and learn...You've moved on, right, Quatre?"

This didn't help Quatre's aching heart in the least. "There's nothing I can do to mend your heart, I know, but at least know that I'm sorry."

"Thanks, Quatre..." Trowa nearly broke into tears but he resisted. "Let's get this over with huh?" They continued towards the interior of the base.

Meanwhile, both the Lightning Count and the Perfect Soldier couldn't believe their eyes. There before them stood the weapons of mass destruction known as the _Wing Gundam ZERO_ and the_ Gundam Epyon_. The _Wing ZERO's_ massive angel wings wrapped around it concealing, for the most part, the titanic beam cannon known as a Twin Buster Rifle. The _Epyon's_ whip-like heat rod encased in its forearm shield came spiraling out and stopped with a loud thunk.

"Angel and demon, huh, Zechs?"

"In your case it's both in one neat package."

"Yeah..." Heero removed his radio. "Perfect Soldier to Crying Clown, come in Crying Clown."

"Crying Clown here, what's up Heero?"

"You'll never believe what we found."

Hideo Shinitama crept stealthily along the wall towards the door that may have contained the plans for the Gundams or this new chemical miracle. _Something about turning metals into Gundanium...what a load. But people want that formula._ He wasn't what one would think of an ex-hitman, clad in a button-down shirt and vest with dress pants, but it had been his job for the last seven of his twenty-four years of living. _That was until that run-in with Jestre. _

An explosion ripped the door off its hinges and a man came flying out, dressed in a black cloak. He grabbed the wall with a gloved hand and shot with a very antiquated gun at the approaching soldiers. He hopped down and saw Hideo, which caused Hideo to draw his handgun. 

"Hmm... I remember you," the spiky haired, cloaked man said. "Let's get out of here."

"Remember me?" Hideo asked, but the man simply ran past him and Hideo followed. "What'd you blow up in there?"

"Formula for some metal-morphing thing. F91 I think it's called."

"What?! I was supposed to get that!"

"God, I just keep running into you mercs today! First Jestre, now you."

"Jestre's here?!"

"Yeah, why you wanna tangle with him again?"

Heavy machine gun fire cut them off, heavy machine guns from an _OZ-07MS Aries_ air combat Mobile Suit. 

"SHIT!" They both yelled, diving to either side. Rico held up a hand to stay the other mercenary. He then proceeded to hop onto the _Aries_' leg and scale it. The _Aries _pilot was quite confused by the actions of the cloaked gunfighter, until the cockpit opened and two black boots said hello to his mouth and chest.

The _Aries' _hatch closed, a uniformed figure falling out of it, and began shooting at the oncoming troops. The _Aries_ failed to notice the _Leo _coming up behind him though.

Hideo leapt into action, squeezing off two rounds and damaging the optics of the _Leo_. While the _Leo_ attempted to reorient himself, the _Aries_ turned and put three shots through the _Leo's _cockpit.

The black cloaked man hopped out of the _Aries_. "Nice save."

"You're not bad yourself, uhh..."

"Rico. Let's get these Gundams and scram."

"Right."

"Oh yeah," Rico reached inside his cloak and handed Hideo a slip of paper. "Not my problem anymore."

Written on it was the Formula F91.

Duo and Wufei had wound up in a tight spot. Not only had they been captured when Duo sneezed, but now they were being taken to the leader, who'd probably kill them. They entered a room with a desk and a chair, turned around.

"Nice to see you boys again," said the voice from behind the chair.

Wufei's eyes widened and he spun the chair around. Around came none other than Treize Khushrenada, gun in hand. 

"Why, Wufei, how uncommonly rude. You could at least wait for me to turn myself around before you try to rush me," Trieze said with a grin. Lady Une went over to Wufei and removed his radio. Treize dialed in a certain frequency that he knew Zechs would pick up.

__

They should be in position for Treize to make his ultimatum now. Zechs thought as he and Heero ducked behind a corner to escape gunfire. His radio vibrated. _And now the fun begins._

"Attention Gundam Pilots! 02 and 05 are now in my custody. You will follow the troops if you wish to see them again," Treize informed them all over the intercom. "Zechs Marquise, get into the _Epyon_."

"What? Why?!" Zechs yelled back.

"You still owe me a duel. Meet me out in space. I'll be waiting," Treize finished. He stood and went to the hanger, with his second in command, General Dutra, close behind.

Dutra was a grizzled old man, but a good strategist and sneaky as all get out. As Trowa had once said, 'the right kind of person for OZ.' But he didn't like this idea of Treize's to duel one single bit. 

A young man with a long pair of bangs framing either side of his face snapped to attention as the two highest ranking officers in OZ approached. 

"Is the _Hydra_ prepared, Lt. Collins?" Treize asked. 

Collins perked up. Treize Khushrenada knew his name! "Yes sir, just as you specified! Right this way!" He opened the door and ushered them through. 

The _Hydra Gundam_ was a monster of a mobile suit. Its head was surrounded by a pair of retractable beam cannons, giving the effect of many heads to the enemy. The feet also spoke of demonic heritage, massive spikes tipping them. The skirt armor housed close to 100 vernier and boosters, and it's beam saber glowed yellow, signaling that was as powerful as the Epyon's wide beam sword.

Lt. Collins suddenly jumped as he got a message on his ear-piece. "What?! Well, get them back!"

"What happened?!" Dutra bellowed.

"We... lost the Gundams...sir...all except the _Ballista_..." Collins stammered.

Dutra's hand swung around, swatting Collins like a fly to the ground. "Idiot!" He raised his hand to hit Collins again when Treize stopped him. 

"That's enough, General, I was planning on this from the beginning. The _Ballista _remains in our hands and Collins here will pilot it."

"Sir?" Collins asked, as if Treize was some sort of drooling idiot. "Why are you letting me off so easy? It was--"

"Inconsequential. I've got a duel to fight," Treize said with a grin.


	3. The Gundam Team Reborn; The Red Comet's ...

Part 3: The Gundam Team Reborn 

OZ Asteroid Base, Third Level, MS Bay. Monday March 11th, 7:30 p.m.

Sitting in the _Ballista's_ cockpit, Collins couldn't believe his luck. "And 'ere I was all set for a fall."

The _Ballista _was referred to as the 'Heavier-Arms' around the base, because of its disturbing resemblance to the _XMSG-03H (G) Gundam HeavyArms_. Predominantly red, it sported a huge 180mm shell based rotary cannon akin to the original _Heavyarms_' beam gatling in design, right down to the shield on the outward side of it. It's shoulder plates were nothing but menacing, coming up almost parallel with the Gundam's V-Fin, and carrying a beam cannon in the center of them. The chest gatlings were replaced with a pair of beam cannons as well, and the left arm had a trio of vulcans mounted in the upper wrist, with a small 'beam jitte' on the other side for it's melee weapon. The head carried four vulcans instead of two and there were an extra two on the legs. The top-of-the-line _XMSG-N3B Ballista Gundam_ stomped over to the exit elevator and prepared for combat in the depths of space.

Heero Yuy, the Perfect Soldier, sat in silence in the _Wing Gundam ZERO. _The devastating Twin Buster Rifles sat in the dormant position on its back, between the Gundam's majestic angel wings. _Just as it should be,_ Heero thought grimly. _What could Treize be thinking? We've achieved peace and now he's going to destroy it with these weapons of war... It's pointless._

"Hey, Heero!" Duo yelled. "Here he comes!" 

"I see him. Is it the _Tallgeese II_?"

"Not if you call that thing the _Tallgeese II_!" Quatre yelled from the _Sandrock_. 

The _Hydra Gundam_ came floating over. "I hope you don't mind, Zechs. I got this one from a man named Valdor. Shame he died before exploiting the full potential of this Gundam Suit," Treize smirked.

"Shut up and duel."

"That's right, Zechs. Show me that you haven't forgotten how to fight."

"Enough talk!" Zechs yelled, igniting the _Epyon's_ beam sword and charging at the _Hydra_. Treize's grin never left his lips as he tasted again the fury of open combat. The blades touched, crackled and withdrew more times than any of the other Gundam Pilots could see.

Then the inevitable happened, as _Epyon's _ZERO System was activated. Zechs was only momentarily stunned by the flood of data into his mind, but in that moment, Treize regained the upper hand. The _Hydra's _rifle stalks unfurled and fired. At such close range, all Zechs could do was take the hit, but lashed out with his heat rod in retaliation. The _Hydra_ was knocked back as the superheated whip struck him broadside with more force then even Treize expected. 

The ZERO System reached its apex and Zechs fought to keep control of himself, but in doing so, he lowered his defenses. Treize took the initiative and charged in with his beam saber, right arm back to get the most energy out of the blow as possible. Suddenly a flood of emerald energy washed between the _Epyon_ and the _Hydra. _The left arm of the _Hydra _now floated freely in space, severed by the immense beam scythe of the _Gundam Deathscythe Hell_. It maintained its slicing position and the head turned to Treize, daring him to come further. Steam hissed from the vents on the side of its head and the batwings closed around the torso as it withdrew from its active battle mode. 

"Try it. I dare you," Duo glared. 

"Very protective, aren't they, Zechs?" Treize joked through a closed circuit. Zechs' reply was merely a groan as he continued his battle with the ZERO system. 

A blazing beam blast streaked through space, striking the scarlet Suit in the stomach. Zechs' head was thrown through the ZERO's sensor globe, which Treize had put in as an upgrade to the helmet based System in the original _Epyon_. The long haired man's forehead effectively stopped the ZERO system and control returned to him. 

Heero called Zechs on his own comms line. "Zechs! What'd that come from?" 

"Morven thwibble... Ow..." came the muffled reply, from inside the sensor globe. 

Dutra grinned from in the base. An OZ soldier approached him. "Sir?"

"What?"

"Are you sure that it's a good idea for the _Virgos_ to attack ANYTHING made from Gundanium? We've got two of our own out there, and one of them is our commander, sir!"

"He's fought _Virgos _before. He'll be fine." _And if not, then what's it to me?_

Rico sat in the _XMSG-N1D Darkon Gundam_, not particularly enjoying the _Tallgeese _class vernier's immense thrust. The Gundam bore little resemblance to any previous design. It's V-fin had a pair of arrows on it and the helmet had a very wide faceplate, coming down almost to the mouth-plate, then arcing up at a 45 degree angle and around to nearly the middle of the side of the head. From there, it lanced back around to a cheek guard of sorts, and down to form the face. The head had four red bands around the back, like the _Leo_ and the helmet came back down in a wicked curve. The torso was divided into three parts, two large on either side of a smaller middle section. Partially hidden by the middle chest plate was a large green crystal 'search eye' flanked by two yellow vents. The cockpit was covered by a down-folding armored plate, which followed the curvature of the torso and search eye. The skirt armor was shaped about like its ancestor _Wing Gundam's_, except it was divided into black and white stripes. The legs were white, and the foot plating was black.

The weaponry on the _Darkon _was quite extensive as well, a giant beam cannon, a Dober rifle on right arm, along with a concealed 90mm gatling in the forearm, and a pair of beam kamas, essentially mini-scythes, made up the armament. But the most impressive weapon was the massive ten meter Gai-var blade on the left arm. Refined from pieces of detonated Gundams, the angled blade could slice through any metal known to man, and was covered in an I-field to block any beam melee weapons short of the _Epyon's _beam sword. But guns weren't going to help poor Rico against G-forces.

"You know..." he said to no one in particular. "This wasn't what I was expecting..." 

Hideo chuckled. "What's the matter? Never ridden in a _Tallgeese_ before?" 

"Sorry, I wasn't born when that model was out, old man!" Rico sniped back. 

Hideo glared at the young man. 

They both received a message from the _XMSG-N2N Gundam Nightstalker. _The smallest of the new Gundam models, its design was rather basic. It carried no guns, and had merely a pair of longswords on either leg. However, its shoulder, elbow, knee, and foot joints each carried a beam blade, and the right wrist was overlapped with three mounted beam sabers. Highly effective and maneuverable in close combat, but mostly useless without its _Torreto Type 100 Mega-Vernier Engines_, specially designed for the dark green _Nightstalker_. 

"Stop fighting yourselves and destroy those dolls," Jestre snarled. Said flight of _Virgo _and _Taurus_ class mobile dolls were approaching rapidly from the rear, headed by a Gundam type. _Predominately long range too...Shit. Without my engines online, I won't be much use to the others._

"We'll take real good care of them, so don't you worry your crazy little head about it," Rico said, readying his combat systems. 

"You know, you're not really helping yourself by being such an asshole."

"Can we argue about this later?" Rico retorted. He prepped his _Vayeate_-class beam cannon, inserting the peg into the slot in the side of the Gundam. The barrel extended and the tip glowed brightly with megaparticles. "Yeah, now I gotcha!" He pulled the trigger and the saffron beam lanced out at the dolls, wiping out the entire _Taurus _squadron, and two _Virgos. _The enemy Gundam remained unharmed, if not a bit shaken.

Collins swore as he dodged the onrushing stream of energy and returned fire with his rotary cannon. The _Ballista _was just right for this sort of bombardment, while the close-combat units were stuck in the back he was free to tear apart the entire field. _First I'm a Gundam pilot, then I get such an easy job. How much better does this get?!_

Hideo boosted his _XMSG-N4M Gundam Mantis _towards the attacking Gundam, transforming the folded up mantis like arms and reconfiguring them to regular MS arms, equipped with massive curved blades called shotel. The _Mantis' _head was shaped like an upside down teardrop, with a pair of antennae and two yellow bug-like eyes. It also appeared that the head had a helmet, the underside of it being a bit smaller and jet black. It looked, essentially, like a repainted _XMSG-04S(G) Gundam Sandrock, _before its conversion to the purple and white _XMSG-04S(S), _although its feet were clawed for better ground traction. It removed its beam pistol from its rear skirt holster and took aim at the red suit. 

Treize was quite irritated. He thought back to what the brown haired man had described it as once. _As pissed as a mongoose in springtime, I believe the quote was. Whatever the hell that means..._ He grabbed his radio and called in the asteroid base. 

"Dutra, what in the 9 hells are you doing?" he heard Lady Une yell.

"I'm retrieving those Gundams, either intact or in pieces!" Dutra returned.

"Lady, feel free to shoot him, if need be," Treize stated calmly.

"Thank you Mr. Treize," she said, holding back a grin.

"You're too soft, Commander Treize. You should take better care of your toys." 

"And you're an tactless oaf. Lady, reset the dolls and bring them back in."

"You're a fool, Treize," Dutra continued to rant.

"We shall see, dullard."

Trowa was feeling a lot less tense, now that he had his _Heavyarms _back. Much as he hated to admit it, it was sort of relaxing to have the power to rip apart something that every other pilot in the universe feared. _Heavyarms' _blue and green armor was lit up temporarily by flashes of its twin double gatling cannons, piercing the _Virgo_ dolls attacking them. "Something isn't right here, guys," he spoke. 

"Yeah, it's easier than I remember it being," Heero answered, as he plunged his beam saber through the faceplate of a _Virgo_ then spun and decapitated two others. 

"Ah, you guys are just underestimating them!" Duo yelled, sweeping his scythe around and clearing away the pieces of the Mobile Dolls. "This is like old times!"

Wufei rolled his eyes as he thrust his huge, red-coiled dragon fang into a group of three dolls, damaging all of them. "He's got a point. We're fighting to kill this time."

"Can we worry about this later?" Quatre said, slicing a Doll down the center with his shotel.

Zechs shook his head. "Why are you guys complaining?"

Heero finished off the rest of the dolls. "Something is up. I'm positive."

Duo scoffed. "Whatever, man. I've got a friend that owns a hanger on L2, we can crash there for the time being, I'll bet."

Meanwhile, the _Mantis _dodged a volley of wrist cannon fire from the _Ballista._

"You're pretty damn good, for an old man!" Collins called. 

"I'll give you an old man, you punk!" Hideo retorted, quite annoyed.

They continued to fight tooth and nail as the Rico and Jestre plugged away at the _Virgos_. Both man and machine alike were being pushed to their limits by the waves of drones. Suddenly, however, a dragon fang exploded through on of the approaching _Virgos. _Rico looked to the cause and saw that is was in fact what he had seen. There, as the smoke cleared, was another Gundam.

"What the hell?" Rico asked no one but himself. The Gundam, which he now recognized as the _XMSG-05S Shenlong Gundam_, was ripping through the _Virgos_ at lightning speed. He looked at it again, but noticed something was different about it, from what he'd seen. It was darker, and looked a lot slimmer, almost feminine. _That dragon fang looks a hell of a lot nastier than what I've seen too,_ he thought, continuing to assess the situation.

A gout of flame snapped him out of his silent monologue. 

"Hey what are ya shootin' at me for?! Huh?" A message flashed on the screen. A computerized voice read it.

"You are OZ troops aren't you?"

"No!" Rico returned. "We're stealing these suits!"

"What about the red one with the cannon, fighting the bug?"

"The red one is an enemy, but--" A smart-ass _Virgo_ decided to blast him to shut him up. The jet black Gundam doubled over as the "_Lady Shenlong_" opened its chest and twin bursts of plasma 'flames' exploded the _Virgo_ like a giant firecracker.

"I will end the fighting here," the computer informed him. With that, the _XMSG-N5T Tiamut,_ as it came up on the _Darkon's _screens, blasted off towards the battle.

Collins dodged another beam pistol shot and saw the attacking MS heading in his direction. He raised his cannon to open fire, but the Gundam twisted and smashed it with the dragon fang in the midsection. The _Ballista_ was curled into a ball, and the _Mantis _slammed both fists into its back. The _Ballista _spun backwards into the center of the _Virgo _company approaching from the rear.

"Ok, that's good. They'll attack the..." he looked around to the Virgos, as they all turned to him and charged up their beam cannons. "Shit!" He boosted up as the _Virgos _fired. The beams interlaced and the _Virgo _company all destroyed each other. Collins punched up the command hub on the monitor. He was met with, not his superior General Dutra, but Dutra's superior, Lady Une. "Well, it's certainly an improvement..."

"If this is about the _Virgos _attacking you, there's nothing I can do about it. Dutra put a lock on the system."

"Didn't know he was a hacker..." 

"Well, more literally, he put a lock through it," she said, holding up a large steel padlock.

"Ah..."

"Sorry that I can't be more help." 

"Don't be," said Trieze, popping up on screen. "Escape with the other three for now, while I sort everything out. You're no longer an OZ Lt., but a mercenary on OZ's payroll." 

"Roger that, sir," said Collins. "Oh sir, there's another Gundam out here, too."

"What?" 

"Here," Collins brought up the picture and sent it to Treize.

__

So, Kusato wasn't the pilot after all... I wonder if it's her piloting that machine... Treize wondered. "Go now, Collins. Just stay alive." Treize signed off.

"Roger that," Collins said, radioing the other four Gundams. "Attention, Gundam pilots, I am not an enemy. Repeat, I am not an enemy."

A message from the _Darkon_ popped up. "Good. I won't have to scrap you now."

"You're pretty cocky."

"When you're as good as I am, you can be cocky if you like."

Collins rolled his eyes at this. He joined the others 

"So you're the fourth pilot, huh?"

"Huh?"

"You know, the dude in the shadows said we'd be working in a group of four. One of them was an undercover agent."

Collins wasn't sure what to think about this. "Ok, but what about the girl Gundam over there?"

"That one I'm still in the dark about."

The five continued to head for L2. Hideo piped up. "So where are we going?"

"I've got an MS bay on L2's main colony, we can crash there."

"Right."

The _Lady Shenlong_ confirmed its course was the same, as did the _Nightstalker_.

"All right, then," Rico said, opening up the comms channel to the L2 bay. "Yo, angel, this is the Rev Raptor here."

"Go on in, Rev. The bay's all cleaned up."

"Better get some rooms ready. We've got company coming." 

"I've got four slots open, but the others are full of _Leo _and your _Taurus_. And my _Gemini _is leaving this hanger over my dead body!"

"Whatever, Gabrielle. Jettison the _Leo _and _Taurus._"

"Roger." The seven MS floated out. A wave of energy washed over the suits as Rico, Collins, and Hideo scrapped all seven in a single wave.

Quatre picked up the heat spike and radioed the other four, Zechs having drawn off the _Virgos _so the others could escape to L2.

"Trowa, do you think that it's those other suits?"

"Could be. I've never seen any of those green things before in my life, so we don't know what they're capable."

"Yeah, what about the rifles they had? It wasn't a beam weapon, so what are they thinking?" Quatre added. He thought back to the large green MS that he had seen in the hanger with the four newer Gundam models. They had a shield on one shoulder and a spiked pauldron on the other. _They looked way too low-tech for OZ, cables on the head and torso like that. Powerful looking jetpack though, and what was with the big pink eye? _"Why would they use such outdated looking Mobile Suits? With out beam rifles, nonetheless," Quatre continued to wonder.

"Quatre, could they be the new Gundams?"

"That may be true too," Quatre noted. 

"Whatever they are, we won't do much good just sitting here," said Wufei from the _Altron, _which stood dormant, arms crossed. His Gundam's giant dragon fangs uncrossed and the pine green Gundam's eyes lit up. He blasted off towards the source of the heat spike, the other four in tow.

Jestre saw the vernier flares in the distance and hit his high output mode, igniting all his beam blades and charging up his thrusters. The _XMSG-02DH Gundam Deathscythe Hell_ came into view and Jestre blasted off at maximum speed towards it in a ball of molecular fury.

Duo saw a green ball fly at him and barely had time to hit its active cloak before the ball revealed itself to be a Gundam. "Whoa. What is that thing?!"

The _Darkon _blasted past _Deathscythe Hell_, spun and opened fire with the concealed 90mm gatling on its right wrist. The high speed shells peppered the wing of the hellish looking Gundam. 

The _Wing Gundam ZERO_ charged in at the _Darkon _with its beam saber but was instead backhanded away by the _Ballista. _The _Ballista _in turn suffered a volley of vulcans from the _Sandrock_, who was then scorched by the _Tiamut_. The _Tiamut _was shot back by _Heavyarms' _gatlings, but then a missed dragon fang from _Altron_ at the _Mantis _ended the Crying Clown's attack. The _Mantis_ then attacked _Deathscythe Hell, _who had knocked the _Darkon _into the _Nightstalker_ as it fought _Wing ZERO._

"ENOUGH!" screamed all ten pilots at once. 

"Wait. Duo?" 

"Rico! What are you doing out here, you merc?"

"Heero Yuy."

"Jestre."

"Who's piloting that Nataku wannabe?!"

"WUFEI!" the others yelled. 

Back at L2, Gabrielle Catalinia was checking the purple hair spikes that framed her face, when the alarm buzzed. She adjusted the black vest over her white half shirt, which framed her large bustline, and grabbed her glasses. She laced up her boots and gave herself a quick once over in the mirror, making sure that her black skirt wasn't too short for any faint-hearted friends that Rico might bring. _Like anyone that knows Rico is faint of heart, unless it's a medical condition. _She dashed to the bay and grabbed her work gloves as the outer airlock hissed open. After seeing that the airlock was full of menacing MS, she closed the outer lock and opened the inner one. 

Ten new Gundams stomped in and it was all Gabrielle could do to keep from passing out as they passed her control room. 

She opened the door and slid down the banister. Rico landed from the black Gundam and whipped off his cloak, revealing a solidly built young man of 17. His entire upper body was covered by a black sleeved vest made of a once in a lifetime combination of kevlar and fabric. The shoulders flared out and the neckline of the suit went all the way up to his neck in a priest collar. As Gabrielle came running to him, he wrapped the cloak around himself and the girl. After receiving her customary kiss, she looked up at the looming figure of the _Darkon Gundam._

"That's gonna be a pain in the..." she started. 

"Don't sweat it. If you can figure out fiber optics for a right hand's nervous system, you can fix a dent."

"Ok, point taken." 

"All right guys, come on down." 

Hideo and Collins hopped down and joined the other five pilots.

"Ok, folks, this is Gabrielle. Gabrielle, you remember Duo, right?"

"Hard to forget someone like Duo, dear."

"True."

"Hello, miss. I'm Thomas Collins," Collins said, bowing at the waist fancily.

"Shinitama Hideo," Hideo introduced himself, bowing in Eastern style, and stating his name in the traditional Eastern style as well.

"Heero Yuy, Ms. Relena Dorlian's bodyguard." 

"Wow, the Heero Yuy. The man that saved the entire galaxy twice," Gabrielle mused. "Impressive repertoire." 

"Hn. Just doing what I was told," Heero returned flatly.

"Trowa Barton."

"Chang Wufei." 

"My name's Quatre Rebarba Winner," stated Quatre with a smile. 

"Winner? As in the Winner family?" both Rico and Gabrielle asked.

"The same."

"I feel like I should kneel or something," joked Rico.

"Please, I'm as human as the rest of you."

Rico removed his right glove, revealing the technological jumble of metal that was his right hand. "You're more human than some of us, I'd say. Besides, you've never met Jestre before."

Jestre's cockpit opened up, and the Laughing Man hopped down from the Gundam. He didn't say a word, but instead stalked past the group and went out into the colony to find a place to contact his employer.

"That was Jestre for you, ladies and gentlemen," Rico said, rolling his eyes. He proceeded to scale the _Taimut _and open the cockpit. There inside sat a Chinese girl, not more than 15 or 16, by Rico's guesses, with brown eyes and raven black hair. She stepped out and Rico stepped back. Giving her a quick look over, she wore a traditional Chinese dress, the upper body covered, which was a good bit to cover, Rico noted, and the dress cut back to reveal her long, shapely legs. 

He gulped as she gave him a glare that could cut Gundanium. He asked her name, but all he got in return was a kick in the stomach that sent him careening off the hatch. 

Below, Collins was watching the proceedings when a black mass fell from the sky into his arms. When he looked again, there was a dazed Rev Raptor in his arms.

"Blimey, looks like got on the wrong end of that 'un, eh?" Collins said, in a harsh exaggeration of his usual British accent.

"Ouch..." was Rico's simple reply. Collins dumped him on the floor as Wufei laughed mercilessly at him.

"What are you laughing about, Wuffie? She could kick your ass too!" Duo smirked.

"Bah! That woman couldn't--" 

"DIE!" screamed the girl, leaping down onto Wufei in a flurry of fists and feet. "My name is Lei Ming! Not Woman!" she yelled as she administered a well-deserved beat-down on Wufei.

Ming decided to get off, decided that Wufei had been pummeled sufficiently, and walked past Rico and the others. "Weakling." 

"You are the one that is the weakling!" yelled Wufei with the last of his strength. Duo walked over and kicked Wufei, who groaned and passed out from it.

Gabrielle twisted a lock of purple hair idly. Rico walked to her side and asked her to remind him not to piss her off. She nodded.

Meanwhile on L1, at Treize's temporary home, Casval entered, in full combat gear. "Mr. Treize?"

"Yes, Casval?"

"I found where the Gundams are staying. Shall I follow them?"

"No, I think you can wait for it."

"Yes, sir." He turned to leave. "Oh and Mr. Treize?"

"Yes?"

"The name's Char," the Red Comet said with a smirk. 


	4. Author's notes, Just for you jerks who f...

GWN Notes.

I, first of all, would like to say that this IS a UC story, just set in the AC time period. Various mecha and characters from the early UC are gong to appear, and play rather major roles, alongside of my own created characters. This story has already been written out by a few of my friends and I, so I ask for your patience while this brainchild of ours comes to life. If it would be possible for you to suspend your altogether annoying comments about the placement of this fic, I would be most appreciative.

1: Mecha and characters from the Universal Century, as well as the Future Century, will be showing up.

2: There will be an actual explanation for this occurrence.

3: This is a long story. We spent many hours working on this. You won't see UC Characters just appearing from thin air. Be patient.

4: There is less to do with the time period as the story progresses, as the world becomes VERY UC feeling as more and more characters and mecha start appearing.

Thank you for your time.

Zenith-Shadoe

PS: I AM NOT A FANGIRL! I'M NOT EVEN FEMALE! 


	5. Part Four: Questions Answered Ming and R...

Thanks for the positive reviews. It is greatly appreciated.

Part Four: Questions Answered; Ming and Rico's Battle with the Hydra

Char closed his eyes, letting the atmosphere around him explain his surroundings. He concentrated, slightly, and his mind's eye told him what was around him. He drew his saber, and assumed the ready position. The steady stomping of his charging opponent gave away the position to the Red Comet.

"You attack too quickly," he said under his breath. The stomping came to a halt as Char thrust. A dull thud was heard.

Char opened his eyes and looked to the lifeless body on the ground, pierced through the heart by his saber.

"Set and match," he said, turning around to face the applause .

Treize smirked. "I see your Newtype abilities have manifested."

"Nah, I could do that any day of the week."

"Well, its good to know that 1000 years as cold data haven't changed you."

"Nope."

Char exited the arena as the OZ troops cleaned up their dead comrade.

"So how is it that you've brought me back here anyway?" Char asked.

"While I was digging through the texts at the Romefeller mansion, I stumbled across a good deal of books on a time period called the Universal Century. There enclosed with it were a number of data disks, all marked with characters, or so I thought, from the stories. After reading the disks, I discovered that what I previously thought to be fiction was truly fact. The design plans for every single mobile suit in the tales were in numerous engineering books and..."

"Wait, how could you be sure that they weren't actors or something?"

"Your very existence right now is dependent on that fact, Char."

Char groaned. "Well, I know that. So, I died when I was 33, thanks to Amuro Ray. What happened to make me 17 again? I wasn't even a pilot when I was this old."

"Well, that tale is to be answered another time."

"Right..."

Treize entered a large white room, filled with sophisticated computers and various tanks. "Looks like some damn sci-fi movie..."

"Char, your life has been a sci-fi movie."

"Shut up. What'd you bring me here for anyway?"

Treize opened up a file slot and held up a single red disk. "This is your brain." He placed it into the disk drive of the large monitored computer. A great number of ones and zeroes popped up onscreen. "This is your brain on a computer."

"Right... What are you some sorta anti-drug commercial?"

"A wha?"

"Before your time..." Char groaned, flashing back to the old commercial he saw when he studied history at the Zeon Academy. Treize popped out Char's brain algorithms. "Hey! Gimme that!"

"Nope." Char dashed at the former sovereign of the World Nation. Treize held the Red Comet back with a forearm, and held the disk just out of range.

"Hey! No fair!" Char yelled, his arms now a blur of red and white as he scrambled for the data disk.

"My disk."

"My brain!"

"So?"

"I want it back!"

"Nope." 

Char gave up his attack and turned away, crossing his arms. _Bastard_, he thought. Suddenly he had an idea. Focusing slightly, he visualized the disk floating over to him. It got halfway and stopped.

He looked over his shoulder. Treize was glaring at him, the disk floating halfway. Treize was shaking his head. "Bad Newtype. No disk for you."

"How did you..."

"You don't think that I could so easily predict the movements of my enemies by just luck, did you?

"Psst. Treize, just between you and me," he leaned in close to Treize. "I've been dead since UC 0093. I'm pretty clueless on what's going on. Not to mention what in the GAY BLUE HELL YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT!" With that, the resurrected Red Comet grabbed the floating disk and left.

Treize sighed. He was seriously regretting bring this over-reactive kid back to fight for him. He didn't really seem to have much direction at this point, but Treize hoped that he'd find something to fight for soon.

----

Ming sat in her room, unpacking what few belongings she had. She stopped when she found the rumpled picture that she usually kept on her. It was of a smiling girl, a woman in a lab coat and a Chinese boy with his arm around the girl's shoulder. Her heart ached as it always did when she looked at it.

A bang of brown hair poked past her. 

"Nice picture. Friends of yours?"

"What do you mean?! That's me and my family!"

Rico snatched the picture away, looked to it, then to Ming, to the smiling girl in the picture, then the frowning girl in front of him.

"WHATEVER. Time changes huh?" Ming merely glared more at him. "Your face is gonna stick like that, you know."

She snatched back the picture and shoved him out of her room. Her mind wandered back to...must have been two years ago. Her colony had come under attack for suspicion of hiding a new Gundam Model. Her boyfriend, Kusato, was to be the pilot. 

While the scientist, Sensei M, and she hid, Kusato went out to protect the Gundam. He was confronted by a man in a blue coat. The man removed the cloak and drew a saber. Kusato responded by drawing his own and they dueled. Kusato put a valiant fight, but lost, taking a bullet from a woman in a burgundy uniform. He fell to the ground and lay still. Ming had intended to rush out and help her fallen love but OZ troops soon came near and they were forced to retreat.

She had become a steel-eyed, cold-hearted killer after that. Her very soul was soon drenched in the blood of OZ as she searched for the pair that killed Kusato. 

She snapped back into reality, hearing laughter outside her door. She slid it open a bit, and saw Rico and that hourglass-shaped skank Gabrielle laughing it up with Collins and Hideo. Then almost to spite Ming, it seemed, Rico kissed her.

Ming pulled her head back in, her teeth clenched so hard they should've shattered. "WHO NEEDS PEOPLE, ANYWAY?!" she yelled, to no one but herself.

"You do..." Treize said, trying to keep an even voice. "You do realize how much that thing cost, right?"

The Red Comet was as red as his uniform. A worried grin was spread across his face. "Uh… A thatsahelluvalotta dollars?"

Lady Une looked at the vase that had been shattered on the ground by Char's wide gesturing. "That would be a valid assumption. Now you get to pay for it."

"I guess this calls for some epoxy then… Y'see… I kinda used all that when the _Zaku's_ shield broke..."

"Ok, now you HAVE to let me kill him."

"NO!" cried a saving voice, coming from a young girl in a wheelchair. "Leave him alone, Mom! He let me ride in his _Zaku_!"

__

Which was the reason the shield fell off… Char noted to himself. As they had been gallivanting about in Char's Custom _Zaku II, _Mariemaia had snatched the controls and ripped about 30 feet worth of paint off the Mobile Suit by slamming it into the colony and doing barrel rolls. Needless to say, it played hell on Char's still fragile constitution.

"Yeah, had a great time… or something…" the Red Comet mumbled. 

Mariemaia wheeled herself over to her 'dear old dad'. "So it's all good, see?"

"Hmm… Char, why did you let her drive the _Zaku_?_"_

"I swear it wasn't my idea," he said shaking his head. "So where's my contemporary?"

"Zechs? He's…" Treize's face dropped. "He's still fighting _Virgos_…"

The doorbell rang. Une answered it to find a Gundam's head sitting in front of her and a very irritated, and very abused Lightning Count sitting on top of it. The smell of burning metal entered the room along with him as his Gundam finally crumbled to pieces. 

"There had better good explanation for this." 

"Uh, Mobile Dolls aren't any good against humans?" Lady Une tried.

"We were testing your abilities?" Char threw in.

"Fighting Mobile Dolls is certainly dull?" Concluded Treize.

"Dull, huh? WAS THAT BEFORE OR AFTER I RAN OUT ENERGY FOR MY WEAPONS AND HAD TO BEAT THEM OVER THE HEAD WITH STICKS?!" Zechs bellowed.

"Wow… some battle, huh?" Char said.

"Shut up, kid."

Jestre walked along the streets of L2, after informing his employer of the completed mission.

__

What did he mean by stay with the other four, but watch out for the girl? Am I supposed to kill her? Should I just watch her? This is no job for an assassin like me. What could I possibly do with that load of metal and gears? It's not easy to be inconspicuous when you're driving a huge robot… 

He saw the building that he was taking up residence in. _Well, home, sweet home. At least they treat me like more than a weapon here._

As he entered, he saw Rico fly backwards out of a room and hit the wall. Dashing in, more out of instinct than concern, Jestre looked to the interior of the room. In it stood Ming, leg outstretched in a sidekick, as evidenced by Rico's now aching torso.

"WHO IS THAT MAN?!" the Chinese pilot yelled, finally lowering her leg. 

"Ugh… His name's… Treize Khushrenada…" Rico groaned. Ming raised an eyebrow. "No relation."

"Pick yourself up, we're going," Ming informed him, walking over.

"Where…?" Rico groaned, standing and steadying himself.

"To find him."

"What in the homosexual Hades are you talking about?" he said.

"You and I are going to get that Khushrenada guy."

"Oh. Why?"

"Just go! I've got my reasons!" 

"Fine."

"You gonna let her push you around?" Jestre asked.

"It's not her pushing I'm worried about…"

"Better go, she looks impatient." 

Rico gave a two finger salute and dashed away. Gabrielle saw him dashing past and followed him, finally catching up to him as he reached the bay.

"Where…" she asked, slightly out of breath. "Where ya going?"

"Out of breath? I guess you're getting out of shape."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Nothing," Rico groaned, wishing he hadn't opened his mouth.

"You think I'm fat don't you?"

"No." 

"Don't lie, you think I'm huge!"

Rico felt his head begin to hurt from her constant ranting about her size, even though her waist was about half her bust, the former being about 19, and same for her hips. She had to be one of the most sought-after women in the colony, despite her being 16 and with a guy a year older than her.

Yet, she still saw a fat, unpopular girl in the mirror. 

Rico still didn't understand this part of his girlfriend's psyche. But right now was not the time to argue. 

"Yes, you're fat, there and there, but not there. You wouldn't be wearing a half-shirt if you were. You'll excuse me, I've got a mission." He quickly kissed her and dashed off.

Gabrielle sent a hand on her chest where Rico had poked her, and another one on her thigh, quelling what she figured would be a ripple. She crossed her arms in a huff. "Jerk. I had a good rant going and he runs off."

The _Tiamut _had left by the time Rico got to the hanger, and he wasted no time in leaping into the _Darkon_. It powered up and he hit the necessary switches to active the vernier trail scanners. The _Tiamut's _trail lit up and shone bright blue against the numerous other trails. He set the output of his vernier thrusters to maximum burn. 

Ming sat up as the alarms went off. Next thing she knew, a black form had come alongside her and gave a two fingered salute.

"Took you long enough. Got stopped by your fat girlfriend?"

"What the hell does that mean? Just because she's got a bigger chest than you and a set of hips to match doesn't make her fat."

The _Tiamut's _beam glaive lit up and Rico quickly whipped out his kamas. 

"I won't tolerate such a wanton assault on my figure! I may not be the biggest out there, but I make up for it by being able to kick your ass!"

"This is true," Rico noted, crossing his kamas to block the oncoming glaive. 

"And at least I don't go around showing mine off to everyone!" she continued, swinging the other end around, which lit up. Rico boosted up away from the blades and managed to remain unscathed.

"Why are we fighting about this?"

"You insulted my figure!"

"You insulted my girlfriend!"

"Let's just kill Treize, kay?"

"Ok!"

Char was sitting inside Treize's small home in L1, piecing together the expensive vase he had shattered. He strained through the microscope that had been soldered to his helmet and felt his head start to ache. He would've chalked it up to the stupid scope, but he recognized the feeling as something else.

__

Newtype sense tingling… DANGER! He pulled off the scope and ran down to the stairs. He grabbed both rails and slid to the bottom, yelling for Treize.

"What's going on now?" the exasperated leader of OZ sighed. 

"Two Newtypes, sir, powerful, and inside the colony!"

"What?!" _It must be those two…_

"Sir, shall I intercept them in my _Zaku_?"

"No, I'll handle it myself," Treize said pushing past Char towards the hanger. "Besides, you've got a vase to repair."

__

Bite me. "Good luck, sir."

"I won't need any if my suspicions are correct," said Treize, as he activated the _Hydra_. The bay opened and the _Hydra _lifted off. 

__

Darkon and _Tiamut_ had entered the colony, through an MS sized airlock, and were scanning for any signs of activity from whatever military units were stationed there. The _Tiamut's _reactor suddenly shut down from what Rico could tell and it toppled over. 

I can't do this… not with him… Rico heard in his head, through Ming's voice.

"What in the…" Rico said, awestruck at what he just heard. The _Tiamut _rolled over, and the cockpit opened. 

"L-let me do this on my own, Rico…" she said, as she exited. Even with her spacesuit, a skin-tight black one, with red and white stripes wrapping around the legs, arms and body, he could tell by her movements that she was on the brink of crying.

"Hey, you all right?"

"I'm fine," she sniffed. "Don't bother with me."

"Come on, are we gonna get this guy or not?"

"Please…leave..."

Rico flipped out of his Gundam and landed on the _Tiamut_. 

"I'm not gonna leave you," he said, removing his helmet and breathing in the reprocessed air. It was stale and tasted like re-hydrated water, but he repressed his usual comment about it. "In the state you're in, you'd just wind up getting killed."

"It's not your problem, dammit! I--" he twisted her helmet and pulled it off, revealing her long black hair and now-sorrowful face. 

"You can't die this early in the game, Ming."

"And why not?!" she yelled back, her tears sparkling around her face. "I can die any damn time I please! You don't need to get involved in this, not get LOST!" she screamed. She stepped backward towards the cockpit, but tripped and would've likely dashed her head on the Mooncrete, had a strong pair of black clad arms not caught her.

Rico instinctively pulled her close and she felt the cold cast of his armor and the rigid, solid lines of his torso as her hand slid across it.

Ming's eyes widened as she realized what was happening. She pushed back slightly, looking up into Rico's tranquil green eyes. 

"You should be more careful," he said in a voice barely more than a whisper.

"Why… why are you helping me?"

"Fate," he said in a voice carried by the wings of the wind.

"But if you die… It'll be my fault…" she choked out pressing her cheek against his frigid armor against and allowing herself to be held in his warm embrace. 

"I'm not leaving without you, no matter what."

"What about your family?" she asked, now letting herself to open up to a measure. 

He loosened his embrace, and took a deep breath. "I have my reasons. All I can tell you now is that it is my final destiny to kill him."

"That's so lonely…" she whispered.

Jestre was not a happy assassin.

He was in fact, exponentially pissed. _Granted I should be thankful for still holding on to that emotion after what has been done to me... But right now, I'm irritated at those engines._ The massive backpack that held the four high-powered engines called "Torreto Boosters" was incomplete. _Damn that Treize for not getting those rockets finished on time…_

"Hey, you! Mechanic girl!" he rasped.

"I have a name you know!" Gabrielle hollered back.

"I don't care. Get those engines fixed!"

She stomped over to the masked assassin. "Now, you listen here, pal, I've got about a million other things I could be doing right now, and I'm considering very carefully if I should just overlook that Gundanium beer can you call a Mobile Suit!"

"Why you--" POW! The attack was unexpected, and Jestre had no time to defend himself as a gloved fist connected with his face.

"What up now?!" she raged at the Laughing Man, who was now on flat on his ass, after staggering around for a few seconds. 

Jestre fought to keep his own rage down, as he watched the short-skirted mechanic swagger off. The only outlet for his rage was for his eye to twitch uncontrollably, and twitch it did as he seethed inwardly. _I CAN'T BELIEVE I GOT DECKED BY A GODDAMN KID!_

He hopped up, and looked around. _Ok, first things first, gotta get those engines working, THEN I kill her._ He spotted the _Mantis_ getting a scrubbing by Hideo with what appeared to be an oversized cotton swab, and Collins reloading his titanic Gatling cannon. A wicked grin spread over the Harlequin's face. _Why do it yourself when the parts are right in front of you?_

Treize was hovering over the last known location of the two Gundams, when suddenly the _Hydra's_ sensors warned him of an incoming projectile. Treize looked around for where it was coming from, when a flying object clocked the _Hydra_ in the head.

"What in the…" he said as a pillar of smoke trailed up from the ground.

"Wow. I never know a mailbox could be turned into an anti-MS weapon…" Rico said, amazed at Ming's apparent genius when it came to ballistics.

"That's nothing. Let's get back to the suits."

"Why?"

"Trust me."

Treize looked in horror as a multitude of explosions went off on the ground and the Hydra was bombarded with small flying objects, now identified as mailboxes. 

"WHY?! WHY ME?!" Treize yelled out to the colonial air.

"BECAUSE OF WHAT YOU DID TO KUSATO YOU BASTARD!" came a very familiar voice.

"You…" Treize managed to gasp before he was slammed in the back by a huge metal foot, sending him crashing into the ground. He flipped over and opened fire with his stalk cannons, hitting the charging _Tiamut _in the chestplates. He pulled out his Hyper Beam Saber and charged at the _Tiamut_ when a black blur whizzed by and severed his saber arm. 

Rico steadied his Gundam after his daring little dancing slash attack. "Ming, you alright?"

"Yeah. Most of the systems are fried though."

"Well get them back online, I'll hold him off."

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the one boy I didn't manage to kill."

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the son of a bitch that killed what little family I had!"

"Hey, I left you a girl, remember?"

The beam cannon swung around. "Orphaned at 15 ain't a way to live, you asshole!" He locked the brackets and plugged in, then opened fire. The saffron streams intertwined and created a massive wave of energy that barely missed the viridian titan, and exited the colony before fizzling out.

"Whoa."

"What's the matter? Forgot how strong you made it?!" 

"Rico, stop!" Ming yelled.

"What? Why?"

"Because this battle is pointless! We can't beat him…"

"Why not?!" Ming winked at him over the monitor. "Yeah, I guess you're right Ming…" 

"Good," Treize said, a slight sigh of relief escaping him. "Now hand over those Gundams." 

The _Tiamut_ reluctantly neared the _Hydra_ and the cockpits opened, forming a bridge. Treize stepped out, despite his nagging feelings that something was wrong, and drew his saber.

Ming was also ready to set her plan into motion, and dashed at him, katana out. Treize spun to the side, dodging the blow, and brought the hilt of his saber into her back. She spun and was parried as he whirled to the side, spinning behind her. As she attacked relentlessly, Treize continued to block or dodge. Much to her annoyance, he seemed rather bored.

She felt the fatigue begin to set in, so she flipped over Treize with almost all over her remaining strength and swiped at his back. He merely whipped his sword over his shoulder and stopped the potentially devastating attack. A shot rang out and Treize's eyes darted around, allowing Ming to plant her feet in his back.

Treize steadied himself and pulled his sidearm, a finely crafted and engraved one-shot pistol. He aimed at Ming, putting the ornate barrel up to her forehead. She shut her eyes and waited for the shot, and the sweet cold release of death, but the sound of a hammer cocking farther back snapped her out of it.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," snarled Rico, who had dropped behind Treize without either of the combatants noticing.

"Rico, no. He would've defeated me."

Treize smiled. "Good girl." He lowered his firearm, but whipped around and shot Ming's savior point blank. Black plastic exploded outward as the bullet penetrated his chest cavity, knocking the Rev Raptor backwards and taking his wind with him. He stumbled backwards and slumped to the metal surface of the cockpit hatch, crimson blood sprinkling onto the makeshift catwalk as he fell.

Ming shoved past Treize, nearly knocking him off the platform. She rushed over to the fallen Khushrenada. She gazed into his shimmering jade eyes as he fought to breathe properly again.

"He's… getting away…" He choked out. Ming looked at him worriedly, surprising the injured pilot. She never had shown any concern for him, until now, but what'd he know? He just met her anyway.

Her instincts took over and, for a reason neither of them could or would figure out, they shared a deep long kiss.


End file.
